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basic structure is necessary if the observer wishes to investigate other issues relating to the committees, For example, there are
numerous questions related to the functioning of the MACs. According to the Wong Tai Sin District Report of 1982, “The functioning of the MACs in the [Lok Fu] Area is satisfactory and there are some active MACs that cooperate with the CDO and the Area Committee in organizing and participating in the various activities and campaigns" (1982:281). However, satisfactory functioning is difficult to assess precisely, as its meaning depends on the point of view and the criteria employed. Government officials, scholars, residents, and committee members all form their own evaluations of committee functioning, based on administrative criteria, research interest, or personal experience.
While some aspects of the functioning of the MACs of Lok Fu Estate have been described here in connection with the structure, the purpose of this paper was not to examine exhaustively (nor to evaluate) all aspects of the functioning of the Mutual Aid Committees. Yet, the issue of committee functioning is related to the material presented here, for all the diverse opinions lead back to the organization of the committees. Committees that function most successfully are those that have taken the basic structure of the MAC and carefully adapted it to the conditions of the block. This adaptability gives committees the potential of solving immediate problems and of accommodating the particular needs of the residents, and doing this with the maximum of flexibility and the minimum of trouble. It is possible that committee size, for example, may be as much related to active functioning as it is to the size of the block. Therefore, the starting point of any future evaluation of committee functioning must be the particular design of each committee, as this reflects the situation of the block and clarifies how the Mutual Aid Committees satisfy the diverse expectations laid upon them. Certainly, as each block has formed its own committee to complement its own circumstances, the Mutual Aid Committees of Lok Fu Estate exemplify this process. Much that can be applied to other questions can be learned by observing the structure, and the variations, of these committees.